The truth is in…Richmond?
Apparently, if you look close enough in the new “The X-Files: I Want to Believe.”
MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD
Early in the movie, the bedraggled Fox Mulder is shown clipping a newspaper article and thumbtacking it to his collection on a bulletin board.
It’s quick, but you can notice a fake byline on the story, with the words “Times-Dispatch Staff Writer” underneath.
Then, a key plot player is noted to be living in a sex offenders compound in Richmond (by way of Vancouver, where the movie was actually filmed). At some point, the deliciously skeptical Scully goes to visit him – and it doesn’t take her very long to get there.
You might chalk that up to typical movie-time, where plenty of implausibilities occur (Quantico to Richmond in 30 minutes or less? Sure!).
But then comes one of the final scenes, in which our deliciously obsessed Mulder is once again snipping stories from the newspaper.
This time, it’s a pretty blatant pan across the masthead of the Richmond Times-Dispatch, and a close-up of the article even spots the words “A Media General newspaper” in fine print.
So, think about it. Why would Mulder utilize the Times-Dispatch as his paper of choice unless he and Scully lived in Richmond?
Besides, as most X-Philes know, the TV show often dropped in Richmond references because we’re the hometown of one of its frequent writers and producers, Vince Gilligan.
Though Gilligan had nothing to do with the movie (hopefully, he’s working on the second season of his excellent – and Emmy nominated! – “Breaking Bad” series), he does receive his own shout-out.
Keep an eye on the scene when Mulder is driving to find the missing FBI agent – about three-fourths through the movie. He flips open his cell phone to search the phone book and the first name – and the most notable – is, of course, “Gilligan.”
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